Building-block



PATBNTED MAE. 1, 1904.

J. D. MORRISON. BUILDING BLOCK. j APPLICATION 21mm APR. 24. 1903.

N0 MODEL.

UNITED STATES Patented March 1, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

BUlLDlNG-BLOCK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 753,2S6, dated March 1, 1904. Application filed April 24, 1903- Serial No. 154,117. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, Litres D. MORRISON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Reinbeck, in the county of Grundy and State of Iowa, have invented a new and useful Building-Block, of which the following is a specification.

My object is to provide a building-block adapted to facilitate the construction and increase the strength, durability, and efiiciency of hollow walls and also to lessen the quantity of labor and material necessary to the erection of such structures.

My invention consists in the building-block hereinafter set forth, pointed out in claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a bottom view showing three distinct open chambers in the block. Fig. 2 is a top view showing a flat surface adapted to hold the mortar, cement, or other binding material necessary to hold the blocks together in a solid wall when they are laid u p in courses in which each joint is broken on the center of the block in the course beneath. Fig. 3 is a sectional view on the line m m of Fig. 2.

The numerals 10 and 12 designate the parts of the blocks used to produce the inner and outer faces of the wall. These parts are of equal length; but either or both may vary in width according to the thickness of wall desired All of these parts 10, 12, and 13 are of equal thickness, and each one is provided with an open chamber on its under side, the width and depth of which may be varied ,according to the weight of the material required in the wall.

These blocks are preferably made of clay or shale by molding under pressure and burning in the. usual manner; but they may also be made of cement and sand or of lime and sand or other suitable material which may lend itself to the production of the results contemplated by my invention.

Each of the parts 10, 12, and 13 of the block is quadrangular in shape, and a course of the blocks composed of these respective parts is adapted to produce a complete wall with an thus substantially of laying a wall inner and an outer face, dimmishing the labor cost over the present method, where several diiier ent courses of brick are necessary to produce the same result.

The middle portion 13 of the block is of such width as to allow of its being grasped by the mason and placed in the wall with one gang while he wields the trowel with the other It is obvious that in a wall constructed of these blocks all joints will be broken and every course bonded, thus adding materially to its strength as compared with a wall as built at present. It is equally obvious that the quadrangular openings at the opposite sides of each block and the open chambers in the bottom side of each will when these blocks are laid in a wall produce a series of separate, distinct, and disconnected dead-air spaces, which will add greatly to the warmth of the house in winter and to its coolness in summer.

Having-thus set forth the purpose of my invention, together with the method of its construction and use and some of its practical advantages, the utility thereof will be apparent to architects,builders,brick masons, and others familiar with the art to which it pertains.

Therefore what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A building-block consisting of two quadrangular parts of uniform length and straightfaced at their ends and an integral part that connects said two parts at their central portions and each of said three parts provided with a chamber in its under side, as shown and described for the purposes stated.

2. A building block composed of plastic material shaped in a mold and hardened, consistingof threequadrangular integral parts, with quadrangular openings at its opposite sides and open chambers on its bottom side, all so constructed and arranged that when a number of the blocks are laid in a wall they will produce a series of separate, distinct and disconnected dead-air spaces, substantially as shown and described and for the purposes stated.

JAMES D. MORRISON. Witnesses:

Hermann WITTEB, F. Conunn. 

